Mixed Feelings
by ANBU Kiyoshi
Summary: Hinata and Naruto have been going out for some time, but one ANBU, named Kiyoshi Takeru, the Silver Fang of Konoha, has had a crush on Hinata since they were kids. How will she deal with his feelings? And what is this mysterious blade Kiyoshi wields?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As the clouds shifted and swirled, making way for the few lights of the night sky, the moonlight poured onto the ninja village of Konoha, the village Hidden in the Leaves. Here lived many great ninja, from Genin to Kage. Amongst these ninja were the Leaf ANBU, the finest ninja in the village, trained to kill with a single blow. Only exceptional ninja are offered the chance to become an ANBU. The young man leaning against the statue on the roof was one of them.

The young shinobi, standing quite tall at 5' 11", wore the standard issue ANBU uniform, which consisted of a tight black shirt and gloves, as well as black ninja shoes and pants with a kunai pouch attached, topped off with grey armor and armguards. On top of this, he also wore a flowing red scarf, and a belt full of ninja tool pouches. On his back was the sword that gave him his title, "The Silver Fang of Konoha". His name was Kiyoshi Takeru.

His silver hair, which reached the middle of his back, hovered above his hazel eyes, while the rest of it remained tied in a ponytail, swaying in the cold wind high on top of Kikyo Tower. In his hand, the elite ninja held a photograph of two people, both Leaf ninja. One of them was a boy who had spiky blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black head protector with an orange and black tracksuit. The other was a girl, shorter than the boy, with long, black hair and pearly white eyes, wearing a beige jacket and a head protector around her neck. Their names were Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga.

Placing his gloved hands next to each other at the top of the photograph, Kiyoshi tore it into two halves in one swift motion, throwing the half showing Naruto down towards the village below. He looked at the half that remained, which showed Hinata standing alone. How he wished he could hold her close to him and press his lips to hers, so gently... but she did not love him. Her heart belonged to Naruto. He had sworn to her that he would never come between them or try to break them up, that he was happy for them.

Kiyoshi loved her, ever since they were children. But she had eyes only for the dropout, Naruto, while he was a model student. After the teams were formed, he never saw her again until Naruto had returned from his training with Jiraiya. By then, Naruto and her were already in love with each other. He felt envious of Naruto, even perhaps a little jealous. But he tried, oh, how he tried to keep those feelings bottled up. He did not want to hurt Hinata, because it would hurt him in return.

He had made up his mind now. Standing to his feet, Kiyoshi placed his porcelain ANBU mask over his face and decided he would just go to see her. It couldn't be that late, the sun had only set a few hours ago. With a running start, he leaped off the tower, travelling to Hinata's house by rooftop. When he looked below, no one else was out.

Everyone was inside, either sleeping or partying late. Good, he thought. It's best to remain undetected. All he could hope for was that she was not at Naruto's house. The two of them were not exactly on good terms with each other since he admitted his feelings for Hinata. He knew he could never win her heart, but he wanted to talk to her.

Finally, he was at the Hyuga house. He could see two ANBU standing guard. One of them was a woman with long black hair, and the other a man with short brown hair. It would not be easy to sneak past them, but Hinata's silhouette could easily be seen in the shuttered window. He wanted to reach out to her and hold her in his arms... NO, he thought, I have enough problems with Naruto already. He had to find a way to get inside, but without alerting the ANBU guards-

"Kiyoshi?"

"Fang, what are you doing here?"

The ANBU had spotted him. Great, now he was going to be known in the entire Leaf village as a Peeping Tom. Not to mention everyone in the ANBU Black Ops were going to tease him about it for the rest of his life.

Sighing, he decided it was time to give it up and show his face.

"Hey, Aki, Yumi, it's me..." Kiyoshi said, removing his mask. As soon as they saw his face, they did likewise, looking about to ensure no one was watching them before hanging their masks on their belts. By this time, Hinata left from the window.

"What are you doing here?" asked Yumi. "She'll never love you, and you know that. Trying to peek at her while she's about to take a shower won't help."

"Sh-shower!?" Kiyoshi gulped, his hazel eyes open wide at the thought of catching Hinata in the shower. She would never forgive him!

"You'd better go back home, and fast," advised Aki. "It won't be as awkward tomorrow."

"No, I have to talk to her now… I'm leaving tomorrow on a mission, if you remember correctly. I-… I just need to talk to her"

Both Aki and Yumi remained silent for some time, looking to each other. Finally, they stepped aside, cracking the window open.

"She'll be in the shower now," Aki pointed out, placing his mask back on. "For your sake, don't get caught seeing her naked."

Kiyoshi nodded, climbing through the window into Hinata's room.

It was nothing as he expected it. Hyuga clan symbols hung on the purple walls. Not a stray piece of clothing in sight. Even her single, soft feather bed was properly made. According to her room's condition, Hinata was indeed a tidy person. He liked that in a girl.

Suddenly, he heard a door open behind him. Oh no, he thought. What if Hiashi had heard him? He would have no choice but to incapacitate him. He suddenly grabbed a kunai from his belt, spinning around quickly to face his assailant. But what he saw was not what he had expected to see.

There, in the doorway of Hinata's bathroom, with only a bath towel around her beautiful, wet body, was the one girl he ever loved, Hinata Hyuga.

Uh-oh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

At first, she seemed scared, shocked to see him. It was then that Kiyoshi began to think he was far from welcome there.

"K-Kiyoshi...kun?" Hinata said, her voice barely over a whisper. Before he could say anything, she bolted back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Kiyoshi swallowed hard. Now, he was screwed. Not only would he get his best friends in some serious trouble, but he had also messed up any existing chance of Hinata ever falling for him. He waited for her to say something.

"Kiyoshi-kun?" he heard her say. He braced himself for what was to come. "If you're still out there, could you please put my clothes by the door? They're on top of my bed."

Kiyoshi held back a sigh of relief. But he was far from being out of the woods yet. It did not take him long to find said pile of folded clothes, since her room was so neat. He took her clothes pile up from the bed, king his body away as if it were infected with some sort of disease, and then placed it by the door, backing away a good ten feet before turning his back on it.

"I-It's there..." he stammered, staring at the area where the purple wall met the wooden floor. He soon heard the opening of the door, and then its closing. After a few minutes, all of which Kiyoshi spent staring at the purple wall, contemplating what to say. Would she be mad at him? Hurt from thinking he was a pervert? Or just burst into another "I'm sorry, but I love Naruto" speeches?

He heard her quietly walk out of the bathroom, and sit on the bed. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"Why are you here, Kiyoshi-kun?" she asked, her voice no louder than before.

Kiyoshi gulped. Suddenly, everything he was about to say was taken from his mouth. I wanted to talk to you? What a dumb reason! Of course he could talk to her tomorrow... No, he couldn't. He would be gone for days; perhaps longer once the mission was underway. He took a deep breath.

"Hinata-chan, I need to talk to you, now and no other time later. You see, I'm leaving on a long and dangerous mission tomorrow. I may not come back..." He wanted to pause there, be he knew he shouldn't. That was not the reason he had come. "Hinata-chan, whatever happens, please don't blame yourself for it. I'm... very happy for you and Naruto. I don't want you to cry for me. Naruto loves the strong side of you that you rarely show. Show it to him."

After that, he did not know what else to say. It was the main reason he had come.

"Please, don't blame the ANBU posted outside for letting me in," He added, remembering Aki and Yumi. "They're my friends." It was then he heard her laugh. He supposed it was due to the last bit.

"Kiyoshi-kun, why would I get mad at that? I would have let you in if I had known you were coming." Then he heard her sigh. "Naruto-kun will understand if I get sad. I won't blame myself for anything that happens, but I can't promise that it won't hurt me. I can try and hide it, but he would know that something was bothering me. Besides, I always want him to tell me his problems with the Kyuubi, how could I hide my problems? It would be unfair to him."

Suddenly, he heard her voice break. "Kiyoshi-kun? Are you okay? Have I really hurt you so badly that you can't look at me anymore?"

Kiyoshi still did not turn around. He knew she was right. Naruto would know if something was up. All he could hope for was that his name would be engraved into the Heroes' Memorial stone.

"Hinata-chan, I said it before. You haven't directly hurt me. I can't expect you to just fall for me because I've loved you longer than Naruto has. Only you can decide whom your heart belongs to. And I'm perfectly happy with the way things are."

The last sentence was a flat-out lie. Kiyoshi loved her, he had always loved her, and yet the dropout of his class had been able to win her heart from the beginning? He didn't understand, but he knew nothing would ever change.

"That... that was all, I suppose... we both need sleep now." He was about to leave, but as he turned around to do so, he saw that her head was buried in her hands. He could hear sobbing, and hearing her sob was a sound he hated. Not to mention, he was the one who caused it.

"I'm so sorry, Kiyoshi-kun. I'm sorry for being so selfish," Hinata sobbed as tears streamed down her face. "You're here thinking of how I feel when I never take your feelings into account. How can be so cruel to you? How can you even stand me?"

At that moment, his actions were not his own. He walked over to her, pulling her into his arms as he hugged her.

"Please, Hinata-chan, don't cry," he whispered to her, holding her close to him. "Naruto taught you to be strong, not weak like this... please, don't cry..."

Hinata nodded, ceasing to sob after a few minutes. She returned the hug, wiping her tears away.

"You're right," she said, looking up at him, "but even Naruto-kun cries when it is for a good reason. Thank you for trying to make me feel better. I really appreciate you coming here and telling me this. Kiyoshi-kun... come back, okay? I'm not sure how you fit into this... but you do. Come back to Konoha as soon as you can... alive and well. You still owe me a dinner remember?" Hinata asked with a smile as she released him from the hug. "I'll be waiting."

Kiyoshi smiled. Yes, he had promised to bring her to Tanzaku Town for sushi. And he wouldn't dream of letting her down. He could never expect her to return his feelings, but at least she acknowledged them and cared for him as a friend. He pried the window open, looking towards her as he put one foot on the windowsill. "I'll come back to you, Hinata-chan. I promise." He then leapt out the window, across the street to the building on the other side, where Aki and Yumi were waiting for him, both of them with their masks off.

"So, how did it go?" Aki said first, arms crossed.

"I didn't see her naked, but a single towel stood between me and a slap to the face," Kiyoshi replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "but the conversation went as planned... besides her crying because she blamed herself for hurting me..."

"Well, as long as you didn't embarrass yourself..." Yumi said, her hand on her hip. "You should get some sleep now. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Kiyoshi nodded, and the three went their separate ways. Along the way back, he began to think. What kind of mission would this be? It was an S-rank mission, yes, but Tsunade-sama had told them that she would give them further details tomorrow. It sounded vital. But he had best keep his mind off it, at least until the next day.

Upon his arrival, he picked up a frame, containing a photo of himself. Taking the picture of Hinata from before, he slid it into the frame, making it seem as if she were in there as well. He would have to destroy this if ever Hinata came over. He sighed, changing out of his uniform into his pyjamas, stepping into bed. He would stare at the ceiling until his eyes shut themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Through the darkness of his sleep, Kiyoshi heard the ringing of an alarm clock, which summoned him out of his nonexistent dream. Rubbing his eyes, he dropped a heavy hand on the snooze button, silencing the object that awoke him. Yawning, he swung his legs over to the side of the bed, getting to his feet. He remembered his instructions perfectly. Get dressed, gear up and meet with the rest of the squad at the Watch Tower. Nodding at his own thoughts, he headed towards the bathroom, stripping off his pyjamas as he stepped into the shower, turning the hot water on. He let the water drench his long, silver hair for some time before beginning to rub soap over himself, scrubbing himself clean.

After rinsing the soap off, Kiyoshi stopped the water, grabbing a towel as he dried off his body and his hair. Grabbing his toothbrush, he added toothpaste and began to brush, soon after cleaning it off and rinsing his mouth with water. His mind still void of thought, he dried his hair, tying it into a ponytail and smirking at his blurred reflection in the bathroom mirror. He then left the bathroom, grabbing his ANBU uniform and donning it. His sword, Silver Fang, was sitting on a single sword rack, in its sheath. He took the sword from its place, unsheathing it only about an inch or so in order for him to see the blade.

Never in the five years he had used it had he needed to sharpen it, or replace it. It was always razor sharp and spotless. Either the sword had magical properties, or this was some sort of rare sword. Few people had seen it in action and lived to tell the tale. Its hilt was made of brown leather, and it had no hand guard. Was this simply a tactical mistake in order to make the sword stylish, or something of a clue? He'd rather not ponder over it all morning. He had places to be, and people to meet. He re-sheathed the sword, tying it onto his back at an angle.

Kiyoshi then went towards his ninja tool rack, with bundles of assorted kunai knives and bags full of shuriken. There was also a large variety of every kind of bomb, Taking his belt, his filled one pocket with as many shuriken as possible. He took some poison gas bombs and filled another pocket with them. He also packed smoke bombs, explosive seals, explosive kunai, and a generous amount of normal kunai knives.

Taking his black ANBU cloak and mask from the closet, he pulled it on, placing the mask on his face and the hood over his head. He left the house, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to reach the Watch Tower, where his teammates, squad leader and the Hokage awaited. As he reached the top, the white-cloaked leader and his teammates had already arrived. They kneeled before the Hokage, who, as always, was in her casual clothing and not the traditional Hokage robes.

"You're right on time." Said the squad leader, his masked face turning to him. "We were just about to mark you late."

"Forgive me, Nobu-sempai," he said as he kneeled between Aki and Yumi, his eyes directed straight forward.

The Hokage leaned back into her seat, her eyes serious. She stared at all of them: Aki, Kiyoshi and Yumi in the front, and Nobu Takamori in the back. There was a moment of silence in which no one even dared to move. Finally, the Hokage spoke, with a sure and serious tone.

"Now that all of you are here, I may tell you of the mission that you have been assigned to. It is a task of great importance, and of great danger, no less. There are high chances that you will not return alive from this mission. And you must therefore be prepared to die. Understood?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the three said in chorus.

"Good," she said, taking a document from within her desk and placing it before them. "You will be protecting this man, Zenshin Ishimoto, a great swordsmith of the Land of Steel, from an extremely dangerous gang of rogue ninja. He needs to be escorted into Konoha, safely, and has requested the help of only the finest ninja in the village."

Kiyoshi raised his hand onto the desk, taking the document into his hand as he read it. He gasped suddenly as he saw the photograph attached. It was an elderly man, with grey hair tied in a bun, wearing a light brown robe. He recognized this man!

"Kiyoshi, are you all right?" asked Nobu. "What is it?"

"N-nothing, Nobu-sempai," he told him, putting the document back.

"Very well," the Hokage continued. "You may be on your way now."

At those words, the entire squad left the room, on their way to the Land of Steel. As they walked, Kiyoshi's mind wandered. So many questions would now be answered.


End file.
